Ten politicians who’ve excelled at social media in 2012

Today, millions of Americans head to the polls to cast their vote for the general election. People have been showing their support for candidates for months using social media. So which candidates have taken advantage of this unique sharing tool?

Here are our picks for the best social media candidates for the 2012 campaign. (Note: likes and followers may increase or decrease throughout the night.)

Barack Obama

The leader of the free world is also the leader of social media. With 32 million likes on Facebook and 21.8 million followers on Twitter, Obama has had over two presidential election cycles to build his brand. His sites are run by his campaign staff, but personal tweets from the president himself are signed “bo.” Tweets are shared thousands of times by followers, but Obama’s social media team has begun retweeting its followers too.

Mitt Romney

Romney had a much later start than Obama, but voters shouldn’t count him out of the social media race yet. He has quickly gained 12 million likes on Facebook and 1.7 million followers on Twitter.

Although Romney has less followers on Facebook and Twitter, he is dominating the president on the up and coming picture sharing platform Instagram. Romney has 77,068 followers to Obama’s 9,785, and his campaign has used the app to illustrate Romney’s life before and on the campaign.

(Mitt Romney Instagram)

Ron Paul

Although he is out of the presidential race and giving up his seat in Houston, Paul has been the social media darling this campaign season. His strong following among the millennial generation won him a strong following on all of his social media accounts. On Facebook, Paul has 1.1 million likes on Facebook and gave Republicans enough of a scare that his delegates were given worse seats than Guam and Samoa at the RNC.

@RonPaul, the Twitter account Paul used for his campaign during the Republican primary, 370,853 followers even though it hasn’t been used since August. His official Twitter account, @RepRonPaul, has 190,780. He doesn’t use it frequently, but when he does, his posts are retweeted hundreds of times.

John Boehner

Speaker of the House John Boehner has run a strong social media campaign. His official Twitter account, @SpeakerBoehner has 371,102 followers and his personal account has 207,212 followers. With 317,503 likes on Facebook, Boehner is not only one of the most vocal voices in Congress, he’s one of the most listened-to politicians on the internet as well.

Gary Johnson

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson picked up a significant amount of Paul supporters after their candidate didn’t make the cut. Although Johnson has received relatively little media attention throughout his campaign, he has gained an impressive 108,339 followers on Twitter and 347,661 likes on Facebook, showing the power of social media.

Ted Cruz

The Republican nominee for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat in the U.S. Senate has gained an impressive 97,742 likes on Facebook and 33,439 followers on Twitter. And since early voting began in Texas, Cruz’s campaign has been busily retweeting followers who proudly proclaim their votes went to the Republican candidate.

Claire McCaskill

McCaskill was an early adopter of Twitter. The Missouri Senator has three accounts – one for her office, her campaign, and herself. McCaskill’s personal Twitter account has 80,626 followers, even though she’s following a grand total of zero. She talks to her followers about her campaign, feeling nervous before debates, and even the health of her mother.

Linda McMahon

The Republican candidate for Connecticut’s senate seat has 36,861 followers on Twitter. Not only is her account updated multiple times per hour, McMahon uses her twitter to thank and retweet followers who showed their support for her online and at the polls.

Bill Flores

When MTV began its Fantasy Election, Bill Flores was the only member of the Texas delegation to make its list of top social media users. His two Twitter accounts, @Flores4Congress and @RepBillFlores have won him nearly 6,000 followers. Flores makes our list for high levels of engagement with his constituents. For the past few days, his campaign account has been personally thanking followers for giving him their vote.Honorable mention: Cory Booker

He’s not on the ballot this year, but the Newark, N.J., mayor has always been active on social media. He raised the bar for tweeting pols in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. New Jersey residents tweeted the mayor about their needs and concerns after the tropical storm destroyed homes and left millions without power last week. In response, Booker has used his Twitter account as a direct helpline, sending supplies and words of comfort to his constituents.

He has used Twitter to paint himself as one of the most accessible elected officials, and even invited a neighbor without power to hang out at his home.

“There is someone at my house now (Eric). I’ve got space u can relax in, charge devices & even a working DVD player. Come by @my_serenelove,” Booker tweeted on November 1.

When a few New Jersey residents decided to take advantage of his offer, Booker had lunch delivered: